This invention relates to a metal terminal connected to an end portion of a wire installed in an automobile or the like serving as a mobile body, and also relates to an electric distribution box provided with such metal terminal.
Generally, various electronic equipments, including lamps such as headlamps and tail lamps and motors such as a starter motor and an air conditioner motor, are mounted on an automobile serving as a mobile body.
In order to supply electric power to the above various electronic equipments, junction blocks have been provided at suitable portions of the automobile. The junction block is formed by combining various electric circuit units of many fuses, relays, etc., together.
The junction block often includes fuses, relays, bus bars, etc., and therefore is often called a fuse block or a relay box, or generically called an electric distribution box. In the present specification, the fuse block, the relay box and the junction block will hereinafter be generically called an electric distribution box.
An electric distribution box includes a box body forming a shell, and a metal terminal (see, for example, JP-A-11-31450). A plurality of mounting portions for the mounting of electric parts (such as the above relays, fuses and fusible links) thereon are formed, for example, at an upper surface of the box body. Further, a terminal connecting portion formed of an electrically-conductive metal sheet and a bolt (fastening member) threaded in this terminal connecting portion are provided at the upper surface. The distance of a head of the bolt from the terminal connecting portion can be changed by threading the bolt into the terminal connecting portion. Connectors of a wire harness installed in the automobile is fitted, for example, to a lower surface of the box body.
The wire harness includes a plurality of wires, and connectors secured to end portions, etc., of the wires. The connectors are fitted to the above various electronic equipments mounted on the automobile and the box body.
The box body receives bus bars connecting the various electric parts (mounted at the above mounting portions) to terminals of the connectors of the wire harness in a predetermined pattern.
The metal terminal is formed of a relatively-thick electrically-conductive metal sheet, and includes a flat plate-like electrical contact portion and a wire connecting portion which are formed integrally with each other. A hole or a notch for the passage of a threaded portion of the bolt therethrough is formed in the electrical contact portion. By sliding the electrical contact portion, the threaded portion of the bolt can be inserted into the hole or the notch. Then, when the bolt is threaded into the terminal connecting portion, the electrical contact portion is held between the head of the bolt and the terminal connecting portion, and is secured to the box body.
The wire connecting portion is continuous with the electrical contact portion. The electrical contact portion has press-clamping piece portions for being press-fastened to a wire connected to a power source or the like. The press-clamping piece portions are thus press-fastened to the wire, so that the wire connecting portion is connected to a conductor of the wire. This wire is connected to the power source.
In the above electric distribution box, the electrical contact portion of the metal terminal (to which the wire connected to the power source is fixedly secured) is mounted on the terminal connecting portion (provided at the upper surface of the box body) by the bolt. Desired electric parts are mounted at the mounting portions, and the connectors of the wire harness are fitted to the lower surface of the box body. In this manner, the electric distribution box is assembled. The electric distribution box supplies electric power from the power source to the above electronic equipments via the fusible links, the wires of the wire harness, etc.
In order to achieve a compact (small-size) design of the box body of the above conventional electric distribution box, it can be proposed to provide a construction in which the metal terminal is formed such that the wire connecting portion extends perpendicularly from the electrical contact portion, and also a recessed groove is formed in the box body, and is recessed from an outer wall surface of the box body, and the wire connecting portion and the wire connected to this wire connecting portion are received in this recessed groove. In this case, the direction in which the electrical contact portion is inserted in order to insert the threaded portion of the bolt into the hole or the notch is perpendicular to the direction of juxtaposition of the electric contact portion and the wire connecting portion.
In this case, when sliding the electrical contact portion, the worker presses a portion of the electrical contact portion disposed in the vicinity of the hole or the notch. As a result, fibers of the worker's glove or others deposit on the portion of the electrical contact portion disposed in the vicinity of the hole or the notch, and therefore there is a fear that electrical connection between the electrical contact portion (that is, the metal terminal) and the terminal connecting portion may be incomplete. And besides, the electrical contact portion is formed into the flat plate-like shape, and therefore the worker can not easily slide the electrical contact portion, and therefore there is a fear that the worker can not easily mount the electrical contact portion (that is, the metal terminal) on the terminal connecting portion.